Featured Restaurants

Where: 545 NW First Ave., Fort Lauderdale Website: jeygroup.com   The journey: The goal for the latest offering from JEY Hospitality Group was clear: The team behind such concepts as ROK:BRGR, Himmarshee Public House and Pizza Craft wanted to open a boutique sandwich shop in burgeoning FATVillage. But before opening Henry’s Sandwich Station, JEY co-founder

Chef Rainer Becker doesn’t deal in one-offs. There are 13 of his Zuma restaurants around the world—including ones in downtown Miami, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. After Zuma took off, Becker opened Roka, which now has four locations in London. For the time being, Becker’s latest ode to contemporary Japanese cuisine—Etaru in Hallandale Beach (Hyde

American Harvest wants to revolutionize the way you think about fast-casual dining. Created by Miami-based Grove Bay Hospitality Group—the company best known for restaurants such as Glass & Vine in Coral Gables and Stubborn Seed in South Beach—American Harvest unites quality with speed by fulfilling made-from-scratch orders in less than seven minutes. “Fast-casual is the

It began with a deep love for his country’s cuisine, and a desire to share. Ariel Caminada and his wife, Adriana, are bringing the tastes of Argentina to Coconut Creek with their new restaurant, Argengrill, which opened in January The Caminadas, originally from Buenos Aires, moved to the United States 18 years ago, coming first

A Creek couple brings family-style Italian fare to Coconut Creek at Sette Mezzo Ristorante Cooking was in Franco Filippone’s blood from the very beginning. “Being Sicilian, you get to work at a young age,” he says with a laugh. “I started cooking when I was 14, and the rest is history.” Filippone’s father was a

The Pubbelly Boys have been busy. In the last year, the four restaurateurs who collectively go by that name opened locations of Pubbelly Sushi at Brickell City Centre and Aventura Mall. They also debuted Habitat, an upscale beachside restaurant at 1 Hotel on South Beach. In addition, they renamed their group Food Comma Hospitality. Though

Ke-uH Where: 2278 Weston Road, Weston Phone: 954.900.2278 Website: keuhrestaurant.com A Little Help From Friends: Ke-uH (pronounced Ke-oo) is a twist on a slang Spanish greeting, que hubo? (“what’s up?”), which has been the introductory exchange between the restaurant’s eight partners for about 20 years. They’ve been friends since they attended high school together in

Carmela Coffee Bar Where: 7967 N. University Drive, Parkland Phone: 954.906.5155 Website: carmelacoffee.com   1. The back story: The friendship between co-owners Rainier Abreu and Rafael Baretta spans 25 years. They met in high school in Venezuela and, later, both earned chemical engineering degrees at Simón Bolívar University. In 2016, Baretta contacted Abreu (who has

Prezzo Where: 5560 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton Phone: 561.314.6840 Website: prezzoboca.com 1. History revisited: It’s been nearly 20 years since restaurateurs Burt Rapoport and Dennis Max sold Prezzo, their beloved Italian outposts in Boca, Aventura and South Miami. At the time, the duo had some 14 restaurants in their stable, so the offer for

Lenore Nolan-Ryan’s food career began with brunch. It was 1974, and she was 19, studying voice and piano at Butler University in Indianapolis. She loved brunch, but there weren’t many options. She could dine at the top of the Hyatt or the Pancake House, but her already-refined palate craved quiches, confitures (similar to fruit preserves),

Lifestyle Change: Michael Hopkins regularly had stomach issues as a child, but it wasn’t until 2010, when he was 50, that he was diagnosed with celiac disease—an adverse reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. A car and Harley Davidson dealer for 25 years, he called on his childhood love

1. In the Beginning: The concept began to take shape during a Fourth of July family barbecue in 2010. Cousins Otto Othman and Nedal Ahmed talked about opening a fast-casual restaurant focused on Latin street food—and starring Brazil’s popular kebabs, known there as espetinhos (in Spanish, kebab is pincho). 2. Mom Knows Best: Othman’s mom,